Police say they have prime suspects in Daytona car dealership thefts

The ads that car dealer Gary Yeomans typically runs in the newspaper call attention to the latest deals on shiny new Mustangs and Benzes.

By Katie Kusturakatie.kustura@news-jrnl.com

DAYTONA BEACH — The ads that car dealer Gary Yeomans typically runs in the newspaper call attention to the latest deals on shiny new Mustangs and Benzes.But after one too many were stolen off Daytona International Auto Mall lots in broad daylight, an irritated Yeomans placed some ads of a different kind, leading to the arrest of the person who, police say, is one of the main suspects.“It's just very frustrating when you're being violated so openly,” Yeomans said.Over the past few weeks, Yeomans, a partner in four of the Auto Mall's dealerships, ran an ad in The Daytona Beach News-Journal that featured the face of Victor Gaines, who Daytona Beach police believe was involved in multiple thefts from the Auto Mall.Gaines, 23, was arrested on a warrant July 20, and four days later, 22-year-old Kendrick Hodge, another Daytona Beach resident police believe was involved in the Auto Mall thefts, was arrested on a warrant, records show. Both men are being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bail.Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood believes the two men were working with someone on the inside to coordinate stealing cars by making keys accessible.Despite recent theft troubles at car dealerships, Chitwood said the city is on track to hit an all-time low for reported auto thefts, adding to a decade-long trend of decreases. From January through June, 130 auto thefts were reported, records show. During the same period last year, 178 were reported, and by the end of 2013, a total of 367 had been reported.Ten years ago, the Daytona Beach Police Department took reports on 982 auto thefts.From 2004 to 2013, reported auto thefts decreased by about 63 percent in Daytona Beach, records show.Chitwood credits technology as the primary reason for the decline. He cited OnStar, an in-vehicle communications system, and keyless entry as examples. Bait-car operations, and DNA and fingerprint evidence are also contributing to lower numbers of car thefts.Yeomans said since the arrests of Gaines and Hodge, who has yet to incur any charges connected to the Auto Mall thefts, no vehicles have been reported stolen. Yeomans not only paid to run Gaines' picture after police identified him as the main suspect, but Yeomans also paid for an ad that showed seven of the cars that came up missing from the Auto Mall, including a 2014 blue Ford Mustang, a 2013 gray Mustang and a 2014 Nissan Altima 3.5 SL. The ad also included a reward for each car found.“When we offered the reward, we got most of our cars back in five or six days,” Yeomans said.Capt. Craig Capri, who heads the Daytona Beach Police Department's criminal investigations division, said the only car still missing from the Auto Mall is a 2009 Dodge Challenger that detectives believe has since been painted white. After his most recent arrest, Gaines was charged with two counts of grand theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing or attempting to elude at a high speed and reckless, burglary of an occupied conveyance, fleeing/attempting to elude with lights and sirens active, two counts of driving with a license that has been canceled/suspended/revoked, possession of a schedule II substance and reckless driving, records show. Hodge was charged with two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude with lights and sirens active, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude, four counts of driving without a driver's license, one count of reckless driving and one count of resisting an officer without violence, records show.Chitwood said nearly 25 percent of the auto thefts reported so far this year were from car dealerships, and about 50 percent are stolen when the keys are left in the ignition or readily accessible.South Daytona resident Ashley Castorena's car became part of that 50 percent when she let her friend borrow it to get to work.Castorena said her friend, who didn't want to be interviewed, stopped for gas about 9 a.m. one day in June at the Citgo at the corner of West International Speedway and Martin Luther King boulevards and went inside to pay, but when he walked back outside the car was gone.“I wanted to believe that the prejudices toward certain areas weren't true,” Castorena said of the gas station, which police said is responsible for an excessive amount of calls for service.Police found the missing Mercedes a few days later at the Crab Stop restaurant, located just a few blocks from the Citgo.When a Daytona Beach police sergeant pulled in front of it, 18-year-old Thaddeus Johnson rammed the police cruiser with the stolen car on June 5 and sped off, according to a police report.Police eventually caught up with Johnson and charged him with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, fleeing/attempting to elude, grand theft of a motor vehicle, driving without a driver's license, resisting an officer without violence and criminal mischief with property damage, records show. Johnson is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $38,000 bail.“I felt like (Johnson) just ruined his whole life for a joyride,” said Castorena, 33.While Yeomans said no cars have been stolen from the Auto Mall since the arrests of Gaines and Hodge, he said there have been attempts, and Chitwood is confident that someone on the inside, possibly an Auto Mall employee, was involved.“The only way you can steal cars today is if you have the keys,” Chitwood said.He said most newer model cars are designed to prevent hot-wiring or at least make it difficult to accomplish.Chitwood said detectives believe someone has been leaving the keys in particular vehicles and directing someone on the outside to the car that's ready for stealing.“At night Yeomans has got heavy security and all his keys locked away,” Chitwood said. “We believe there's an employee or employees tipping these knuckleheads off.”Since the investigations into the thefts began, Yeomans has taken additional security measures and polygraphed subcontractors, some of whom had their contracts terminated.Yeomans said he isn't as convinced as Chitwood because surveillance video shows suspects breaking the locked key boxes attached to cars on the lots.But both men agree on how the stolen cars are being used.“When these cars get stolen, they wreak havoc in our community,” Chitwood said.He said the cars are used in other criminal enterprises, such as drug dealing.“They're thugs with nothing else to do,” Yeomans said of the suspects. “They have zero fear of being caught.”Police declared July 29 that Michael Cerone, 51, was a person of interest in several auto thefts at Daytona Hyundai, 901 N. Nova Road, where he worked.Chitwood said detectives attempted to speak with Cerone several weeks ago, but when they arrived Cerone fled and never returned to work.Police have since made contact with Cerone — who has not incurred any charges at this time — but Capri said Cerone has denied any involvement in the thefts.